Friday, January 1, 2010

How to Draw Every Day

One of the best ways to improve your drawing is to do it every day. The trick is to actually do it. Busy lives get in the way and if you sit down to a large sheet of paper you can talk yourself out of it pretty easy. You may think you just don't have the time to make art.

A trick I learned a few years ago has really helped me to be more consistent in drawing daily. It involves making a calendar. An art calendar.

In my sketchbook I draw out a calendar leaving the boxes open and blank.



Then every day take my extra fine black pen and draw something in that day's box that represents my day. I then color it with my colored pencils.

An example:



If I forget to do it for the day, or if I just can't think of anything that I want to draw then I usually just put the date. I always try to design each square and experiment with the color palette.



Some months I put a lot of effort into the heading and artwork around the dates and some months I don't. I always use pen and just go for it. Erasing is not an option. I like that. Some designs turn out great and some not quite, but I learn from every one.



It's a great little exercise and keeps me creating, even on the busiest of days.

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6 comments:

PoetC7 said...

Part of my New Year's resolution was to find a way to express myself artistically, so I have been desperately seeking a way to bring a little creativity into my life on a daily basis. I was doing the "next blog" tourista thing when I stumbled upon your blog and your idea of making the calendar. So, I'm going to give it a go! What a grand idea! It appeals to me quite a lot and I'm ever so happy to have found your blog today! THANKS A LOT! :o)

mitchowl said...

That makes me happy, Constance.
Happy creating!

Matilde said...

Amazing Idea!

Prasad Posam said...

thats just as creative as your art, thumbs up to you

Alex Sheena said...

such a good idea! it's so hard to find inspiration everyday i feel but i think this could work.

Leah said...

Haha! I was "next blogging", too, and found this. I have an 8 year old son that draws constantly. With my artistic skills lacking, I am unsure of how to encourage him. This is brilliant! He's going to absolutely love it. Your blog is now in my rss feed, so keep the good ideas coming!

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